A Month With You
by le-jpforever6
Summary: This is the story of the unsure & insecure Lily Evans and how she ended up letting James Potter get to know the real her... Rated M in case of language and possible sexual content.
1. My first kiss

James walked right up to Lily, no hesitation, and without saying hi, and just kissed her. He kissed her like there was no tomorrow. First he was hesitant; he lips moved carefully against her. When she didn't immediately push him away from her, he deepened the kiss and pulled her closer. There bodies were flush up against each other, his neck craning down to reach hers. He intertwined his fingers with hers, relishing in the softness of her skin.

And just that like, he pulled away. He looked down at Lily, muttered a quick "I'm sorry" and walked away with his head down. Lily stood in shock for a moment, taken by surprise. She stood in the middle of the deserted Potions dungeon, where he had ambushed her, running her finger over her lips.

_What __the __hell __just __happened __to __me? _Lily thought to herself.


	2. Rising up to the challenge of our rivals

Lily Evans was not the most confident girl in the world.

Her hair was far too bright red for her liking, she was forever pale no matter how much she tanned, and she was extremely short for a witch of sixteen years old. However, going into her seventh year at Hogwarts, she was determined to make the most of it. No more letting Slytherins walk all over her, no more letting James Potter make her lose her temper. Because Lily was actually one of the nicest girls in school; she offered to tutor students in her spare time and never gossiped like most girls at school. Though if one person set her off, it was ruddy James Potter and his stupid friends. _Who__even__gives__themselves__a__nickname__as__stupid__as__the__Marauders?_So Lily's goal this year was to ignore Potter and persistent requests for a date to Hogsmeade and enjoy her last year at school.

Lily sat in the Great Hall, reading a Muggle novel and waiting for her best friend Liz to join her for breakfast, and praying that she would show up before Potter and his worshippers. No such luck, Potter came and sat across from Lily. He gave her a small smile before making two cups of coffee. He handed the first one over to Lily, which she accepted with a confused look.

"You know how I take my coffee?"

Potter laughed. "Lily, I am a pretty observant guy. Plus I reckon I've bothered the shit out of you for a few years now. I know you pretty well."

Lily smirked. "Oh Potter, you don't even know me at all."

Potter raised an eyebrow. "Really now? How do you reckon?"

Lily took a sip of coffee and piled some fruit on her plate. "You think you know me. You know the me that everyone in school knows which is to say that you don't really know me since that's only a small part of me and who I really am. Catch my drift?"

"Not at all. But I accept the challenge."

"Potter, are you daft? I didn't challenge you to anything."

"On the contrary, you said that I don't know you when in fact I know you better than anyone else." James took a deep breath. "Except maybe Lizzie," he added as an afterthought. "So that's it... for the next month, you have to show me the real you. No pretending, no whatever it is that you do. I want to know the real Lily Evans."

Lily shook her head. "What if you don't like the real me?"

James took a piece of kiwi from her plate and ate it. "Let me be the judge of that." The rest of the Marauders- Sirius, Remus and Peter- had walked up behind Potter. "Challenge accepted." Sirius snorted while Remus rolled his eyes as the guys sat down to eat their meals.

Sirius sat next to Lily and began to pick off her plate. "Why would you ever challenge Prongs here? He never loses a challenge. Never. Except that one if third year... how I wish we had never challenged him to that."

James crossed his arms and looked pointedly at Lily. "Technically that challenge is not yet completed. Still to be determined."

Lily looked between the guys, obviously missing something. "So what was the challenge then?" Remus shook his head. However, Peter shrugged and simply said, "Marauder's secret."

Lily rolled her eyes and stood up. "Well, as interesting as this has been, I am going to find Lizzie and drag her to Charms. See you there. Save you a seat, okay Potter?"

James simply nodded and smiled, too surprised to speak. _Looks __like __this __next __month __is __going __to __be __a __whole __lot __more __interesting..._


	3. Changes in attitude

Lily walked down the stairs to the Great Hall, anxious to eat some lunch and finally find her best friend Lizzie. Lizzie had been missing all morning and Lily was hoping to tell her all about the Potter shenanigans of the morning when Lily realized that today was the first day that Ja-Potter had not followed her around in awhile. _Maybe this challenge was a good idea… _Lily thought to herself before she felt a tug on her shoulders.

She looked up find Potter grabbing her school bag off her shoulders and carrying it for her. The gesture surprised her; Potter had never done anything considerate before. He smiled down at her confused gesture.

"Calm down, Lily. You have a lot of books in your hands, just thought you could use some help."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Well, thanks Potter. I'm heading to the Great Hall."

Potter smirked at her. "Everyone is headed there, it's lunch time."

Lily blushed and ducked her head down. "Right," she stumbled.

Potter pulled her by her arm and dragged her into an empty classroom. "Potter, what are you doing?"

Potter shook his head. "We need two rules in order for this thing to work. One: call me James. Two: you promised me a month of the real you. No filter, no hiding, no nothing. A challenge is a challenge, Evans."

Lily stuck her head up. "You want to know what I'm thinking. All of the time? Are you sure about that, James?"

James smiled at the sound of his first name, the first time she had used it since they were eleven years old. "Absolutely."

"Okay then, let's go. I want to get to the table and eat some of that fucking pumpkin pie before all your little followers and worshippers try to give you a slice." Lily walked out of the room and James, not quite knowing what had just happened, hurried to follow her. "You want to know something about me? Number one: I hate those little slags that follow you around all day. I think they are annoying, gossiping about each other when one isn't around. They sit there, comparing their chances of getting a date with the elusive James Potter. It's bloody ridiculous." Lily took a deep breath and realized it was the most she had ever said to Potter in one talk. She looked up, only to find a smile on his face.

"You know, I can't say that I like them much either. Those girls definitely test my patience."

Lily laughed loudly and snorted. "Please, don't you live for that hero attention?"

James shook his head and Lily thought he was blushing slightly. "No, I don't put much store into labels and such. I have my friends and that's really all that matters to me."

Lily and James sat down in the middle of the table, earning a few looks from students confused about their behavior.

"The infamous Marauders… you guys are really close, aren't you?"

James smiled at the mention of his friends but then shook his head. "Isn't this month supposed to be about me getting to know you?"

"I guess so…"

The two sat in comfortable silence, ignoring the stares around them as they sat down to lunch. Lily smiled slightly at James when he cut her a slice of pumpkin pie. She was about to say thank you when she was interrupted by –

"Lily, you will not believe what this asshole just did to me this morning. Pour me a goblin, will you?" Looking frazzled, Lizzie went to sit down when she finally noticed James Potter in her seat. "Excuse me, get lost."

"Lizzie, it's fine. Just sit down. Tell me what happened."

Lizzie brushed her blonde hair out of her face and sat down next to James. "Okay so this morning, I'm coming to meet you and you will never guess who stopped me." She paused. "I can't do this. It's too strange for me. I thought we hated them, all of them. And now he is sitting here at lunch with you. What the fucks Lil?"

James looked at her thoughtfully. "Lil, I like that one. I'm going to try that one."

Lizzie shook her head. "See my point?"

Lily grabber her best friend's hand across the table and leveled with her. "It's weird, I know. But for the next month, Potter- fine James- is going to be around."

Lizzie arched her eyebrow. "Why?"

Sirius came out of nowhere and sat down on her Lizzie's lap, leaning his head against her cheek. "Well Lizzie love, she challenged him. As a Marauder, it's an obligation he must fulfill." Lizzie rolled her eyes and shoved Sirius off her. Remus and Peter came to sit on the other side of the table, by Lily.

"A challenge, Lil? How daft can you be?" Lily just shrugged her shoulders. "So it's going to be us and the Marauders for the next month? The real us or the picture perfect version of us?"

Lily smiled at her best friend. "Real."

"Well shit boys, welcome to the most magical month of your life." She smiled at the three of them until she grabbed Sirius by the tie and pulled him close. "And if you try anything with me, I will make sure you never flash that heartbreaking smile or flip your hair at your little fan girls again. Clear?"


End file.
